


Still the Hero

by dragyn42



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 01:00:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18906292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragyn42/pseuds/dragyn42
Summary: Death Eaters and sword fights. That’s not what Susan was expecting when she agreed to accompany Harry to the Ministry Masquerade. But she wasn’t complaining.





	Still the Hero

**Author's Note:**

> Exchange: smutty_claus 2012  
> To: nevrafire
> 
> This took a bit to get into for me, but I had great fun. I hope you enjoy it. And, as always, thanks to the mods for their help and patience.

“Ginny thought it was funny.”

She was, of course, referring to that daft article in the Prophet. Ginny had floo’ed directly to his place to laugh about it. Someone had gotten a picture of Harry agreeing to go to the ball with Susan at the Leaky Cauldron, Hannah happily looking on. Some thick-witted reported determined, in print for the entire world to read, that obviously, between his prior relationship with the happy Harpy, and his new whirlwind romance (which consisted of, “So, you think Hannah is right?” “Probably. Let’s go to the ball,”) he was clearly destined to date red heads.

“She would. She’s a Weasley; they all have bizarre senses of humor.”

“Oh, come on. ‘Seeks to fill the roll of his absent mother with women of the ginger persuasion.’” Her voice mimicked a German accent, very badly.

“Why did I agree to come here with you?”

“You needed a date. I wanted to come. Hannah, Hermione and Ginny somehow managed to gang up on us until we relented to come here together.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Look, Harry, if you don’t want to be here with me, I understand.” There was no hurt in her voice. She was being sincere.

“No. You’re right. I’m sorry, Susan. If I have to be here, which I do, then I’m very happy that I’m here with you.”

Susan’s brown eyes stared into his green ones for several moments, the background fading away, just before she snorted. “Wow, that was really cheesy.”

“Sorry,” grinned Harry. “I didn’t have a mother to teach me the proper way of treating a lady.”

After another moment, Susan prompted, “I keep meaning to ask...”

“Yes?”

She glanced around the room, obviously looking at the various outfits of the attendees, masks across their eyes, each and every one, and continued, “How can they enforce your attendance to a masquerade ball? How do they know it’s even you?”

“Thank you!” he cried out. “I asked the same thing.”

“And?”

“King just stared at me. Said I needed to get out more, be more social.”

Susan laughed, saying, “That doesn’t sound like something Kingsley would say.”

“He’d been at the Burrow for dinner.”

“Ah. So it was Mrs. Weasley’s dictate.”

He nodded. “And so, here I am, in this ridiculous outfit, like some Victorian noble, this silly ‘dress sword’ making sitting in these stupid chairs all but impossible, and this moronic mask plastered over my face.”

“I don’t know, I think the outfit is rather dashing. If I didn’t have a date here, I’d hit on you.”

“Your date is me.”

“Oh, then I guess I can hit on you.” There was a happy little glint in her eyes. Merlin save him from mischievous females.

Harry let out a short, sharp laugh. “Another woman hitting on me. Wonderful.”

“Then how about a dance?”

“I don’t dance well.”

“You’re telling me that since the Yule Ball in our fourth year, you’ve not learned anything more about dancing?”

He shrugged. “Didn’t need to. A little dancing at Bill’s wedding, and that was it.”

“Well,” she said, pushing her chair back and standing up. “Since the ‘stupid chairs’ are so uncomfortable with your ‘silly sword,’ let’s work on that, shall we?”

Seeing nothing better to do, and Susan was a nice, pretty woman, he decided to humor her. I was supposed to be date, after all.

Standing from his own chair, he held out his arm. Susan giggled (giggled!) and placed her hand on his elbow. Together, they made their way to the dance floor where other, elegantly dressed couples were twirling around the checked, wooden floor to the strings and flutes.

Harry hadn’t been exaggerating when he explained the number of times in his life he had needed to dance, and so when stepping onto the floor, he relied much on Susan’s prompting. She placed his arm along hers, his hand on her shoulder, and placed his other hand on the small of her back. Low on the small of her back. If she weren’t wearing clothes, Harry seriously figured that he would find very little ‘back’ under his hand. But Susan seemed happy as she placed her own hand in the middle of his back (probably a much more appropriate location) and helped him lead her around the floor.

The more he moved with her over the next half hour or so, the less he, and she for that matter, seemed to care about the distance between their bodies. In fact, it was pretty much nonexistent, and he was noticeably out of breath and quite warm. He could feel that she, too, was warm, her body heat radiating through her ruffled dress, her breath in his ear. This was truly much more enjoyable that the Yule ball.

His fellow dancers had all but disappeared in the blur of movement and the feeling that all that mattered was the partner in his arms. Occasionally, a dancer would enter his vision as they swung close to one or another of the other dancing couples, and he would guide Susan away. He was pretty certain that several times he even moved them away from a random, single man who would otherwise ask to cut in. And at some point, he thought he had caught a flash of light, but on completing their circle, he could see nothing other than the chandelier light reflect off some womans gaudy jewelry.

Eventually, though, Susan seemed to tire, and she indicated that they should slow down and make their way back to their table. Harry, skillfully by this point, managed to neatly guide them through the dancing crowd, and, once he reached the edge of the dance floor, caught another flash. This time, when he looked, there was no gaudy jewelry, or glassware, or anything else that could have caused the flash. He did notice, however, a masked gentleman in a dark doublet moving away.

This was enough to get his attention. He held onto Susan’s arm, hoping she understood that she needed to stick close, and he turned his head to catch, just in time, another flash of spell-work in a third corner of the room. Harry was now convinced that something was not right.

Kingsley was dancing with his own partner, his height and build fairly unmistakable to Harry, and was dancing in a path that would bring him close to Harry in just a moment. Stepping to catch the Minister, he was too late when spell-fire erupted from around the ballroom.

Harry pulled his wand instinctively, and saw that Kingsley, Susan and quite a few others had as well. He likewise saw that the others noticed at the same time he did that they were unable to cast spells.

“That’s quite enough!” cried out familiar voice from one of the be-masked men. “Our Jinxes are in place, and you will find yourself without an ability for spell-work. We, however, are quite unrestricted.”

More spell-fire flashed, and Aurors near by the dark-clad terrorists suddenly found themselves bound.

“Everyone, onto the dance floor!”

It only took a couple minutes for the entire crowd of party goers to gather on the floor.

“Now,” said another familiar voice over the quiet, panicky din – Nott, which made the first speaker Yaxley, both uncaptured Death Eaters, “We have come here today to prove a point to you, our dear, fellow, wizarding citizens. You see, we have been stating for years that our blood, our Pure Blood, makes us better. Time and time again you ignore us, fight us.”

“Well,” continued Yaxley, “we have just proven that a simple handful of us were able to incapacitate the ‘best’ that this government had to offer. We demand our rightful places back on the Wizengamot.”

“Really,” stated the resonating voice of the Minister for Magic. “Taking a bunch of unsuspecting, unarmed and untrained civilians by surprise makes you better? Tying up a bunch of off duty Aurors, here to simply enjoy themselves makes you superior? What fine, upstanding members of society. We surely must restore your positions.” He waited a moment, then continued, “Think again. You will find the citizenry does not cow as it used to under your cowardly threats.”

“Threats? We’ve made no threats! But if that’s what we need to get your attention...” Nott flicked his wand and a woman fell to the floor shrieking. Several of the witches and wizards around her cried out, but checked her nonetheless, calling out that she appeared okay, just unconscious. “A warning. The next time we wont be so kind.”

“Restore our seats or we will begin killing you, one by one, every half hour, until our demands are met!” called out another of the masked men.

Harry had had enough. “Demands?! Who are you to make demands? Lawbreakers and fugitives, breaking even more laws to sit on a governing body that doesn’t even want you!” Harry stepped away from Susan, letting go her hand. “Do you believe the law abiding citizens of this country will follow the laws of bigots who were already smacked down? The last wizard who broke all of our laws, forced his way into our government, and tried to take what he thought was his didn’t fare too well. I should know.”

“Potter!” snarled Yaxley, firing a spell.

In one smooth movement, just as he had been trained, he pulled his sword from its scabbard and intercepted the bright purple bolt with the blade, angling the flat to deflect the spell harmlessly to the floor.

The confusion and surprise caused by that single act was enough for the Aurors not already bound, and several civilians, to jump into action and swarm the invaders. When there was a chance no one would be hurt, the Aurors and officials had quietly kept everyone following orders. It was a policy they were all trained for and kept everyone safe. But the first sign that there was true danger, and no one was going to sit around waiting for their death.

There were cries and shouts in the chaos, and one or two hostages collapsed as random spells hit targets, but in the course of only a few seconds, the terrorists had been physically subdued – all except one.

“Oh, bravo, Potter. What a lovely trick.” In all the confusion, even Harry had missed that Yaxley had now positioned himself such that his wand was pointed clearly and unobstructedly towards Susan. “Your new, red-headed fling. Yes? What do you think you can do now? Your wand is useless,” he said, gesturing to the wand still in his hand, “and that cheap piece of costume tin won’t save her. Say goodbye to another ginger, dead because of you, just like your mother. _Avada Kedavra_!”

Harry flowed toward the spell, his sword sliding through the air, connecting with the green bolt inches before Susan’s shocked face, deflecting it into a stone pillar next to a window. The pillar shattered, and the shards hadn’t even struck the floor before Harry continued his motion, neatly turning, and, with a lunge and up-swing, neatly sliced Yaxley’s wand. He would have preferred to slice his hand, instead, but could not lunge quite that far without losing his balance.

“Please, tell me. Why would I bother to wear this ridiculously cumbersome thing if it served no purpose at all?”

A rumbling laughter filled the room. “You did continue,” commented Kingsley.

“Of course.” Basic sword use was taught to all Aurors as a part of their hand-to-hand and non-magic combat training. Harry had gone further, though. Putting his wand away, he said, “It was fun, I was fairly good at it, and I needed a hobby. I believe that last was one of your orders.”

“Why you insolent...” came the enraged response from Yaxley. In a move nearly as polished as Harry’s, the Death Eater had stepped backwards and pulled his own sword from his scabbard. The hissing ring made it clear that his was also not some costume trinket. “Die, Potter!”

Harry almost missed the attack, but his instructor had drilled him quite well. Step back. Upswing. Each defensive swing must lead to an attack or you have lost.

Before he even had time to contemplate his actions, he found he had pressed Yaxley away from Susan. But Yaxley was no slouch, either, and his sword was already making a return trip towards Harry’s head.

Sidestep. Back block. Counter strike to the shoulder.

Yaxley blocked. Duck. Turn. Feint. Turn again.

Back and forth they traded blows and lunges, strikes and swings. And when simple swings of their steel proved too evenly matched, they began to circle around the room.

One or two colored bolts of spell fire made it near them, but either the pair of fighters were moving too much to be hit, or Yaxley – the continual target – was able to deflect the bolts in the same way Harry had. Harry couldn’t figure out whether to be impressed that the short-time hostages realized the Death Eater wands could cast spells, or annoyed that they were shooting in his direction when he was moving around. Either way, the spells ceased when Kingsley called out for the idiots to stop as they might hit Harry.

As they neared the tables, Yaxley attempted to gain the high ground, jumping backwards, up onto a chair. The position allowed him an easier angle to Harry’s head, a more difficult attack to block, but Harry was up for the task. Each of his swiping deflections allowed him a shot at Yaxley’s legs. Yaxley was too skilled for the attacks to succeed, but they did allow Harry to set up a pattern of defense. As expected, Yaxley picked up on Harry’s defense, which created the opportunity for Harry to surprise him by stepping back, pulling him ever so slightly off balance.

His opponent swung his arm out to counter balance himself on the chair, and Harry performed a maneuver he had only successfully accomplished once in practice: a standing forward somersault. He cleared Yaxley’s blade, landing in a crouch on the table. Bleeding off the last of his momentum, he stood and pivoted, facing Yaxley just as his opponent righted himself only to realize that Harry was no longer in front of him.

“Harry!” cried out Susan. He glanced up to see that she had just tossed him a wand.

He stepped forward into the Death Eater’s now turning body and kicked out before Yaxley could bring his sword to bear. Yaxley reflexively stepped backwards for balance, only to discover that the seat was not that large, and he proceeded to tilt backwards, falling to the floor with all the grace of a swimming kneazle. Harry performed another flip, this time off of the table, and snatched the flipping wand right out of the air while upside down. Coming out of his somersault early, he twisted himself into a landing, connecting with the floor in a solid ‘thud,’ his sword at Yaxley’s throat, the wand pointed at his head.

For a brief moment, the only sound was Harry’s heavy breathing, before the entire ballroom erupted in applause. The volume only rose as raucous cheers and whistles joined the cacophony, and Aurors rushed forward to take the ringleader into custody.

With everything now under control, Harry looked around the room. Other Ministry personnel were working at dismantling the anti-magic jinxes. Healers had gathered around the various injured, and luckily, it appeared no one was seriously hurt. Over all, everyone was working together to make sure everything was safe. It even appeared that several attendees were trying to get the music and dancing started back up.

Kingsley came over to Harry and clapped him on the shoulder, saying, “Now, aren’t you happy I told you to get a hobby?”

Harry just laughed.

“It looks like the party may start back up, but don’t feel obliged to stay. I think you’ve done all you needed to here. I expect a report on Robards’ desk by end of tomorrow, though.” With another shoulder clap, Kingsley went off to manage the rest of the affair.

Tossing his acquired wand to a passing Auror, he sheathed his sword and turned just in time to catch Susan as she slammed into him. She was shaking held onto him tightly.

“I don’t think I can stay around here much longer. Please, just get me out of here,” she said.

He guided her out of the ballroom, down the hallway, and into the atrium. He made his way to the Apparation point, and still holding her tightly, Disapparated, taking them both to her place, just inside her door so as not to alert the neighbors.

Susan stepped away from him and stared into his eyes, and then, suddenly, grabbed his head pulled him into an all out snog.

He was shocked, of course, but squashed his initial reaction of pushing her away and making sure she was okay by reminding himself that she was his date, and her really shouldn’t be upset if his date wanted to kiss him.

She finally pulled away, breathing heavily, and said, “That, Harry Potter, was, by far, the most _amazing_ thing I have ever seen. I am _so_ hot for you right now.”

That statement was certainly not how Harry had intended on ending the evening – maybe some pleasant talking, an agreement for another date, or perhaps a good snog if he was lucky – but he certainly wasn’t going to turn down an offer by someone as nice, and nice looking, as Susan.

These thoughts percolated through his head just as Susan began fumbling with the buttons up his shirt. She seemed quite dexterous, but very impatient. Grabbing each side of his shirt, she yanked. His shirt open, she pulled it down off his shoulders, letting it fall to the floor.

She kissed him again, and when he started to have trouble breathing, she said, breathing hard, “I always thought that if I got to do this with you, it’d be slow... romantic...”

“We can-”

“Don’t you even think of it, Harry. You save a girl’s life, you get the rewards. Deal with it.”

With that remark, she pushed him backwards to the sofa. Once he was seated, she pulled up on his undershirt, removing it, then slid her hands down his naked torso and deftly undid the button to his trousers. She grabbed the waist of both his trousers and boxers, and removed those as well, leaving him naked on the sofa – all except for the mask still stuck across his face.

“Wow,” she said, glancing up and down his body – definitely more so on the ‘down’ part. “Just... wow.”

She reached behind her neck and pulled on a tie that Harry knew was there. The entire bodice of the dress widened, and then fell forward, off her shoulders, and with a quick tug, off her hips as well. She was now standing before him in nothing but her knickers and sparkling, black mask, her dark red hair shiny and gleaming in the moonlight coming in through the window, complementing her smooth, creamy, not to mention flushed, skin. Her breasts stood proudly, showing her arousal, which was also noticeable on her knickers.

“I... uh...” She was really quite beautiful in a way that Harry hadn’t noticed before, and he was having trouble finding words. He managed to come up with: “I thought there was, uh, more to those dresses.”

She smiled slyly at him and said simply, “Magic,” and then winked. She... well, _slinked_ was the only word Harry could think of, back to the sofa, her knickers finding their way to the floor in the brief trip, and then slid into his lap, facing him, pressing her naked skin against his.

Harry found himself unable to resist and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and kissing her passionately, his activity from earlier mixing with the raw, sensuous ambiance he now found himself in. Her body, so warm, felt amazing in his arms, against his own.

“Now, my hero,” she whispered again his lips, “It’s time for your reward.”

“Don’t I get to see your beautiful face?”

Her breath hitched when he pulled at the corner of her mask, just above her ear, and the magical mask fell away. He stared for a moment at her blue eyes, her dark lashes, the lust in her eyes. He reached for his own mask, but she grabbed his arm to stop him, her gaze never leaving his.

“No. You’re my masked hero. It’s always been something of a fantasy for me, and here I am, actually living it.”

“Whatever the fair damsel wishes,” responded Harry.

“The damsel wishes this,” she said, lifting herself slightly to position and ready herself, and then lowered back into his lap, moaning. “Oh... wow.”

Harry tried to grab her hips, but she declined again. “This is _your_ reward,” she said, and placed her hand on his chest, pushing him into the soft back-cushions of the sofa. “You don’t get to do anything.”

Susan then moved on top him, a sensuous dance all it’s own. He stared at her, admired her body as it moved slowly from side to side, and then in a sleepy, circular shimmy, her breasts swaying. The flush in her skin became more pronounced, spreading across her chest and up her neck, her skin shining from the slick sweat.

The entire experience built in Harry, too, and soon, he slid his arms around her waist once more, and pulled her body to him, crying out.

“Mmmmmm,” Susan moaned. “So nice.”

They sat like that for a while, holding each other, still joined, when Harry finally said, “So, if this is my reward, shouldn’t I get to do this my way?”

“Hmmm?” was all Susan managed to get out when Harry twisted his hips and rolled them to the side.

Harry leaned over Susan, who was now supine on the sofa. He was still surprisingly ready, and began his own, slow movements. Susan moaned out, and then moaned even louder when Harry leaned forward to kiss her breasts, nibbling and nipping them all over.

He lost himself in her body, in his own movements, in the sensations of the whole experience. In fact, when Susan grabbed his upper arms and cried out, it only spurred him on further. The intensity of the whole intimate affair seemed to energize him, and he moved faster. Soon Susan cried out again and he sped up once more. He lost track of the number of times Susan shouted, now so much more than moans, and he was moving with all the vigor he had displayed earlier at the dance, though with much more feeling than the anger he had held towards this opponent.

When he knew he could go on no further, he felt everything culminate into a final release and yelled out, collapsing onto his now-lover. Together, their breathing slowed, their skin cooled, and they kissed with a much more staid intensity than the passion at the start of their evening.

Finally, Susan indicated that he should roll over, so he moved to the side, between her and the back of the sofa once more. She reached up and grabbed the blanket covering the seat back, and pulled it over them as she rolled herself, spooning into her partner.

“You better get that report done quickly, Harry. I think I’m going to need to reward you some more,” she mumbled as she dropped off to sleep.

Harry couldn’t remember being more contented, and was looking forward to waking up with Susan in his arms as he followed her into slumber.


End file.
